Non-Governmental Organizations and Peace Operations
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs) AND PEACE OPERATIONS
NGOS: “Private Organizations that pursue activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests
of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake community
development.”
World Bank Definition of NGOs
I.
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
A.
Although not collectively labeled as such earlier in this century, NGOs have
existed for well over a hundred years. For example, the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) was founded in the middle of the nineteenth century.
The label “Nongovernmental Organization” was used first at the founding of the
UN. It implied that NGOs keep their distance from officialdom and that they do
things that governments will not or cannot do. In fact, these days NGOs have a
great deal to do with governments and in the last half of the twentieth century
NGO growth has been exponential. Present estimates put the number of
international NGOs at over 30,000.
B.
Most of the growth has been in small NGOs. But some are very large with annual
incomes of millions of dollars and worldwide operations. Each year NGOs spent
billions of dollars on relief and sustainable development programs in the
developing world.
C.
Lester Salamon, Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies,
suggests six factors that have contributed to this NGO explosion:
1.
Negative perceptions of the Welfare State have weakened public support
for government run programs and spurred search for alternatives.
2.
A Development Crisis precipitated by poor performance of top-down state
run programs has engendered more participatory programs in which NGOs
help organize grass roots efforts.
3.
A perceived global environmental crisis that has had a disproportionate
impact on people in developing countries led citizens who were frustrated
by government inaction to organize their own efforts.
4.
The discrediting of socialism encouraged increasingly skeptical citizens to
form market-oriented cooperative enterprises and NGOs that offered
alternatives to state services.
5.
The communications revolution coupled with higher education and
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literacy rates have helped people in remote regions organize concerted
efforts.
6.
D.
II.
Global economic growth has raised popular expectation and helped create
the urban middle classes who provide leadership for the non-profit sector.
One of the major ongoing areas of discussion and debate in Peace Operations
concerns the doctrinal and operational relationship between NGOs and the peace
operations military forces when operating in the same mission area. The
traditional role played by NGOs of providing humanitarian aid in these operations
is recognized. In fact, a very descriptive characterization of the NGO role is that
they are the “foot soldiers” for the international relief effort during any
humanitarian crisis.
1.
This characterization emphasizes the front-line role that these
organizations play in meeting what are often life-sustaining needs for the
affected population groups. NGO workers are the ones who manage the
health clinics, the emergency child feeding centers, and the truck convoys
that deliver the food which sustains people in a crisis.
2.
Although the other components that form part of the structure of the
international humanitarian crisis response system, such as the UN and the
international military contingent, may perform some of the same tasks
themselves, the great bulk of the relief workforce always comes from
NGOs.
THE RESPONSE SYSTEM
A.
Broadly speaking, the response to a humanitarian crisis generally involves the
following organizations:
1.
Various UN organizations: from the Secretariat the Department of
Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the Office for Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA); from the UN’s Economic and Social
Council the World Food Program (WFP) and the World Health
Organization (WHO); and from the UN General Assembly the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF).
2.
The International Committee of the Red Cross.
3.
Official national government aid agencies such as the United States’
Agency for International Development (USAID), The United Kingdom’s
Overseas Development Agency (ODA), Canada’s International
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Development Agency (CIDA), Denmark’s DANIDA and the European
Community’s ECHO.
B.
III.
4.
International NGOs specializing variously in Relief, Development and
Advocacy.
5.
International military (peace operations) forces with the primary task of
security, but which may play a role in humanitarian relief, particularly at
the beginning of a mission.
A key requirement is the effective coordination and integration of the efforts of
each of these components throughout the mission. Since there will be no single
hierarchical command authority that can direct the activities of all of these groups
the goal is to gain consensus, establish and maintain effective coordination to
ensure cooperation in working to achieve the mission’s end state. Unity of effort
must be Achieved While Recognizing:
1.
Different cultures of response elements
2.
Disparate assessments of the situation on the ground and ways to
effectively deal with the problem
3.
Different missions and tasks in the crisis
4.
Diverse goals
NGO DEFINITION, TYPES AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
A.
What then exactly are “nongovernmental organizations?” As the name implies,
it’s easier to say what they are not - neither governments (though they often work
in partnership with them) nor businesses (though commercial enterprises might be
a key part of their fund raising or programs). Technically there are many
institutions and organizations that are nongovernmental: churches, art
organizations, professional associations, unions, hospitals and universities.
B.
But the term is most commonly used to describe private organizations working on
a whole range of development issues, from disaster relief and child nutrition to
literacy or agricultural programs. A generally accepted definition of NGOs is that
they are “self-governing, private, not for profit organizations that are geared
toward improving the quality of life of disadvantaged people.” (In the United
States such groups are also known as “private voluntary organizations” or PVOs.)
C.
NGOs as a group are as unlike as they are similar. They form a mosaic of
enormous diversity, a tapestry of rich color and variety. Their organizational
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structures, their philosophical approach to relief and development and public
policy, their sectoral specialization, and their historical roots cover such a wide
spectrum that NGOs cannot be easily characterized unless they are subdivided
into smaller subsets such as below:
1.
Advocacy NGOs. These are NGOs that work exclusively on public policy
issues and have no permanent operational presence in the field. They are
known as advocacy groups. These tend to have few, if any, field programs
or projects. Instead, they conduct research on such issues as human rights
abuses, refugee protection, the environment, health, and hunger. Their
mandate is to influence the policy debate in their area of expertise, not to
run relief or development programs.
2.
Operational NGOs. The primary focus of operational NGOs is managing
projects in the field. Some work only in humanitarian crises areas while
others focus primarily on longer-term development projects. Some do
both. Increasingly, over the past few years many of them now also do
some advocacy work. Operational NGOs are primarily the ones with
which military forces will come into contact during peace operations.
a.
A distinctive sub-set within the operational NGOs is the Faithbased NGOs. Faith-based NGOs are growing in influence because
of their roots in the religious institutions of the country in which
they operate.
b.
There are faith-based international NGOs representing virtually
every major world religion.
D.
Most of the larger NGOs do both relief and development work. Some specialize
by sector—agriculture, health, or education—while others devote themselves to
certain regions of the world, such as AFRICARE, which works only in Africa.
E.
John Clark of the World Bank has categorized NGOs into six “schools.”
1.
Relief and Welfare Agencies: groups that provide aid and/or other forms
of disaster relief or ongoing assistance such as food. (e.g., Catholic Relief
Services.)
2.
Public Service Contractors: NGOs that are contracted to handle parts of
official aid programs that they can perform more effectively than
governments. These are funded mostly by “Northern” governments. They
often work closely with “Southern” governments and official aid agencies.
(e.g. CARE.)
3.
Popular Development Agencies: “Northern” NGOs and their “Southern”
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counterparts that concentrate on self-help, social development and grass
roots democracy. (e.g. Oxfam America in partnership with the Bangladesh
Rural Advancement Committee.)
G.
4.
Grassroots Development Organizations: Local “Southern” NGOs whose
members are themselves poor. These NGOs often receive funding and
support from Popular Development NGOs. Many receive no external
support at all.
5.
Advocacy Groups and Networks: Organizations like Muslim Public
Affairs Council, Bread for the World or Amnesty International who work
on education and lobbying in their home countries as well as
internationally.
6.
Technical Innovation Organizations: NGOs that pioneer new or improved
approaches to problems and remain specialized in their chosen field. (e.g.
Appropriate Technology International.)
Operational NGOs – (The most common NGOs that the military interacts with.)
1.
It is important for peace operations forces to understand that most of the
operational NGOs that operate in complex emergencies and peace
operations provide one or more of the five life saving interventions that
make up the relief discipline:
a.
Food Distribution
b.
Shelter (and heat in temperate climates)
c.
Water
d.
Sanitation
e.
Medical Care (both curative and preventative)
2.
In addition to the above, many of them work in the equally important
rehabilitative disciplines that help people become self-sufficient again
after a disaster: pastoral and sedentary agriculture, micro-enterprise, and
primary health care.
3.
One of the major value added strengths that NGOs bring to the
humanitarian response system is found in their organizational skills at the
community level, which they use as much in relief efforts as in their longer
term sustainable development work.
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4.
5.
a.
Operational NGOs that focus primarily on development and,
therefore, typically have a long term presence in a country or area
generally understand the history, politics, and culture of the
society, the religious beliefs, and the tribal or clan structure.
b.
Also important is the fact that they deal on a daily basis with local
and national elites and the authority structures that lead the social
order.
How the operational NGOs are organized and governed also affects their
work. There are five principal models for how they have organized
themselves for their international relief and development work.
a.
First, while all began this way, some remain with their
headquarters in one country while they work internationally in
many countries (International Rescue Committee and International
Medical Corps).
b.
Some have many autonomous national chapters with independent
field organizations each reporting back to their home offices,
which means that several offices may work independently of each
other in the same country (Save the Children and Oxfam).
c.
Some have chosen to create many national fund-raising offices that
pool their funds in one central account and spend it through a
single world-wide field organization that is indigenously staffed
and managed (World Vision International and International
Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies).
d.
As a hybrid variation of the second and third models, each national
headquarters has its own field organization but is assigned specific
emergencies in which to work by a central international
organization, so the NGOs do not compete with each other in the
same country (CARE and Medicins Sans Frontieres).
e.
Some work only through indigenous local NGOs that are not part
of their organizational structure and these have little operational
capability in the field outside these indigenous partner agencies
(Church World Service, Oxfam America and Christian Children’s
Fund).
Each of the above models has particular advantages and drawbacks:
a.
The first tends to be the fastest in operations and decision-making
and the least bureaucratic.
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b.
The second generally is the most flexible, internally competitive,
and at times, organizationally contentious.
c.
The third has deeper community roots and the capacity to
aggregate large amounts of money rapidly for a particular relief
program.
d.
The fourth has the deepest community roots but does not maintain
a field staff that it may direct to a particular emergency and also
lacks flexibility and quality control.
e.
The fifth generally operates well-received, long-term community
programs and projects, but has limited ability to respond to crisis
needs.
IV. NGO “CULTURE”
A.
B.
In a recent book about NGOs the author interviewed a substantial number of both
UN and NGO workers and asked them the question, “Why do people work in
relief and development?” Naturally they cited a variety of reasons, but he found
he could group their responses into two broad categories:
1.
Altruistic and humanitarian concerns. In other words, “Desire to help!”
2.
In it for the money and benefits. Some stated candidly that they had
mastered the UN and other donor agencies’ system for allocating contracts
and there was money in it for them.
With these factors in mind it is easy to understand why the organizational culture
of NGOs differs from that of the military. The organizations have diametrically
opposite missions.
1.
The military trains to defeat an enemy through the application of violence.
NGOs work to improve the quality of life of disadvantaged people. The
military is hierarchical and highly disciplined to ensure it can apply force
and violence decisively to defeat an armed enemy.
2.
NGOs on the other hand tend to be flexible, independent, non-hierarchical
and averse to authority. They work in disadvantaged areas to develop
cooperation and a community spirit to bring populations out of misery and
poverty.
3.
Most surveys reflect that military members tend to be politically and
culturally conservative.
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C.
4.
NGOs, are generally politically as well as culturally liberal (with the
exception of some faith based NGOs). They often believe that their work
of improving lives is being threatened by the militaries in the countries or
areas in which they work.
5.
The military is trained to receive mission statements that are explicit and
tangible.
6.
Humanitarian assistance mission statements, if there are any, always seem
to be implicit and intangible.
There are few formal training plans or programs for NGOs. Most recruits get the
bulk of their operational training while working in the field. There are few
equivalents to established military doctrine where NGOs can look to for
guidance on how a particular activity or program is to be executed.
1.
Where doctrine exists, it comes out of generally shared experiences and
responses from previous crises.
2.
These are seldom written down and they are certainly are not followed
uniformly. Field experience in the culture of NGOs is the equivalent to
combat experience in the military. It is a badge of honor, accorded the
highest respect.
D.
Nearly all NGOs share a devotion to the concept of sustainable development in
any country or area in which they operate. They share a dislike of quick fixes
which, they feel, the military operating in these environments tend to emphasize.
E.
In spite of their nonprofit nature, NGOs need to compete. They realize that the
quality of their field programs affects their capacity to get UN and national
government grant funding (an increasingly important source of operating
revenues), and their public visibility affects how much private contributions they
can raise.
F.
NGOs do not want to rely on the military for their security. Rather they hope that
two aspects of their culture will be the basis for their security. First, they hope that
the importance of the work that they do for the local community will keep them
from being targeted. Second, they will strive to maintain a non-partisan stand in
any conflict hoping thereby not to pose a threat to any of the conflicting parties or
factions.
G.
By 1995, the dramatic growth in the number of NGOs, the growing perception of
unaccountable operations, and the fierce competition between them for funding
and projects (highlighted during the 1994 Rwanda crisis where a frantic
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scrambling for public recognition and funds led some NGOs to lie about their
projects) caused concern that the media and the public might lose confidence in
the work of NGOs. In response, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent
Movement drew up a ten-point NGO Code of Conduct. Many of the larger NGOs
and 142 governments have now signed this Code of Conduct indicating their
agreement to abide by its provisions. The “Code” is as follows:
V.
1.
The humanitarian imperative comes first.
2.
Aid is given regardless of race, creed or nationality on the basis of need
alone.
3.
Aid will not be used to further a particular political or religious standpoint.
4.
We shall endeavor not to act as instruments of government foreign policy.
5.
We shall respect culture and custom.
6.
We shall attempt to build disaster response on local capacities.
7.
Ways shall be found to involve program beneficiaries in the management
of relief aid.
8.
Relief aid must strive to reduce future vulnerabilities as well as meeting
basic needs.
9.
We hold ourselves accountable to both those we seek to assist and those
from whom we accept resources.
10.
We shall recognize disaster victims as dignified humans, not hopeless
objects.
GOVERNING PRINCIPLES FOR HUMANITARIAN ACTION AND THE UNNGO PARTNERSHIP FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
A.
In general, the community of organizations providing humanitarian aid recognizes
that humanitarian action is founded on three principles:
1.
Humanity - Human suffering should be relieved wherever it is found. The
inherent dignity and other human rights of individuals and groups should
be protected and respected.
2.
Impartiality - Humanitarian assistance should be provided without
discrimination. Relief is provided without regard to nationality, political
or ideological beliefs, race, religion, sex or ethnicity based on the urgency
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of need.
3.
B.
C.
E.
Neutrality - Humanitarian relief should be provided without bias toward
one or more parties to the political, military, religious, ideological or
ethnic controversy which has caused the suffering. Humanitarian actors
must not allow themselves to become allied with a party to the conflict.
The UN Charter makes only one formal reference to institutionalized
arrangements between NGOs and UN agencies: Articles 63 and 64 specify that the
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the six principle organs of the
UN, is responsible for consulting with international and, where appropriate,
national organizations.
1.
The only mention of “NGO” as an official term comes in Article 71, where
ECOSOC “may make suitable arrangements for consultation with nongovernmental organizations which are concerned with matters within its
competence.”
2.
But it is this “consultative status” given to NGOs in the Charter that
provides them direct UN access and (as some have maintained) establishes
a legal basis, along with the Geneva Conventions, for NGOs to carry out
their humanitarian assistance functions.
3.
A number of larger NGOs even have accredited representatives at UN
headquarters in New York and in Geneva.
In 1988 the General Assembly, in Resolution 43/131, further promoted the role of
NGOs. This resolution:
1.
Stressed the important contribution NGOs had made in providing
humanitarian assistance.
2.
Invited all States to facilitate the work of NGOs.
3.
Appealed to all States to give their support to NGOs.
4.
Called upon all intergovernment, government and non-governmental
organizations dealing with humanitarian assistance to cooperate as
possible with any organization set up by the Secretary General to
coordinate aid.
Authority to Control - Generally NGOs can operate in a State only when they have
that State’s permission. Of course, in a “failed state” there may be no government
to coordinate or regulate NGO entry. Under Chapter VII the Security Council can
authorize their entry as part of the humanitarian relief effort. NGOs under UN
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contract are expected to abide by the decisions of the Security Council and UN
leaders, (SRSG or a Force Commander), that the Security Council puts in charge
of an operation.
F.
VI.
Right to Interference - Many NGOs feel an expansion of the law is needed to
include the “right of interference,” for neutral and impartial NGOs. Such a law
would make it legally possible for them to go wherever aid is needed, regardless
of the conflict situation or host nation approval.
RISKS TO NGOS AND UN HUMANITARIAN PERSONNEL
A.
Since the end of the Cold War the number of horrifying attacks on representatives
of the United Nations, relief agencies, NGOs and other organizations, and even
the media, while on missions to alleviate and report human suffering throughout
the world, has escalated alarmingly. In the past the blue UN letters and the Red
Cross provided protection; increasingly in the last decade they have designated the
targets. Although we do not have current aggregate numbers for NGO aid
workers murdered, we know from the press reports from Africa, Afghanistan and
Iraq that they are unacceptable
B.
International protectors and aid providers, and their locally recruited colleagues,
have been taken hostage, tortured, killed and even summarily executed. The 1994
Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel specifically
did not cover UN administrative personnel (i.e. non- peacekeepers) and obviously
did not apply to NGO personnel.
C.
1.
A subsequent Protocol to the Convention would extend coverage to the
UN community, but the fact is that whether the Convention (or the
Protocol) has been ratified throughout the world or not, experience has
shown it has had virtually no effect on the reduction of violence towards
peace operators or relief personnel.
2.
Furthermore, while it is not surprising in a “failed state” environment,
there have been few, if any, successful prosecutions by any national
governments for the murders and assaults on humanitarian personnel
anywhere in the world.
Lessons Learned.
1.
Humanitarian Aid workers not only face obvious personal risk in conflict
regions, but suffer significant psychological trauma as a result of
witnessing the killing, human suffering and devastation that has occurred
in conflicts of the past decade.
2.
Humanitarian Aid workers need to be concerned about protecting
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themselves. The triangle of security consists of acceptance, protection and
deterrence.
D.
VII.
a.
Acceptance by the peoples of the conflict region by understanding
the values, mandate and the mission of the particular aid provider.
b.
Protection comes not just from armed peace operators or private
security forces, but from road worthy cars, coordinated
communications equipment, possibly flak jackets and, most of all,
a coordinated effort to ensure that security is understood and a
major concern of all.
c.
Deterrence comes from teams that are skilled at managing crises
and from standard operating procedures, staff training and even
proper marking of vehicles.
Recommendations for the future of humanitarian assistance.
1.
The principles of impartiality must be maintained in all crises and the
Security Council has to take that into consideration in authorizing
interventions. The terms of engagement must allow aid workers to reach
innocent civilians on all sides of the conflict.
2.
The Security Council mandates should spell out the responsibility of peace
operators to protect aid workers.
3.
The international community must mobilize efforts to punish those
responsible for crimes against humanitarian workers.
4.
Security training must be conducted for all aid workers as a prerequisite
for entry into the conflict zone.
5.
The United Nations needs to improve its ability to coordinate the
humanitarian aid effort and to provide needed security information so that
UN Staff and NGOs know the risks that will be faced throughout the
conflict region.
6.
The UN and NGOs need to provide and/or enhance psychological care
given to workers both before they enter and after they return from a
conflict zone.
STRENGTHS OF NGOs
The World Bank identified the following strengths that NGOs bring to an project they
have embarked upon:
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A.
Reach poor communities and remote areas with few basic resources or little
infrastructure, and where government services are limited or ineffective;
1.
Promote local participation in designing and implementing public
programs by building self-confidence and strengthening organizational
capability among low-income people:
2.
Identify local needs, build upon existing resource, and transfer
technologies developed elsewhere. Some approaches and ideas now
prevalent among official development agencies began as NGO
innovations.
B.
Operate at low cost by using appropriate technologies, streamlined services, and
minimal overheads
C.
Make a long-term commitment with an emphasis on sustainability for the project
D.
NGOs tend to have an effective process oriented approach to development
VIII. CURRENT CRITICISM OF NGOs
A.
NGOs are losing their independence and becoming just another arm of
government. Many NGOs are becoming contractors for governments.
Increasingly governments prefer to pass aid through NGOs because it is cheaper,
more efficient and more at arms length than direct official aid.
1.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), winner of the 2000 Nobel peace prize,
gets 46 per cent of its income from government sources.
2.
In Africa, where international help has the greatest influence, western
governments have long been shifting their aid towards NGOs. Of 120
NGOs which sprang up in Kenya between 1993 and the end of 1996, all
but 9 received all of their income from foreign governments and
international bodies.
3.
During a Social Summit in Copenhagen, United States then Vice
President Al Gore announced that the United States would channel half its
foreign aid through NGOs instead of governments.
4.
Western governments also find NGOs useful in ways that go beyond the
distribution of food and blankets.
5.
NGOs such as the International Crisis Group and Global Witness publish
detailed and opinionated reports from places beset by war or other
disasters.
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B.
6.
The work of Global Witness in Angola is actually paid for by the British
Foreign Office.
7.
In some cases NGOs are taking over directly from the diplomats; not
attempting to help the victims of war, but to end the wars themselves.
8.
Some try to restrict arms flows, such as Saferworld, which is against small
arms.
9.
Perhaps the most potent sign of the closeness between NGOs and
governments, aside from their financial links, is the exchange of
personnel.
10.
In the developing countries, where the civil service is poor, some
governments ask NGOs to help with the paperwork requested by the
World Bank and other international institutions.
11.
Politicians or their wives often have their own local NGOs. In the
developed world, meanwhile, increasing numbers of civil servants take
time off to work for NGOs or vice versa.
12.
OXFAM has former staff members not only in the British government, but
also in the Finance Ministry of Uganda.
13.
The current head of the USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
was previously head of the International Rescue Committee while the
former head of Interaction, a consortium representing over 160 NGOs in
Washington, DC is now a senior U.S. State Department official.
NGOs are too close to the corporate world - Any neat division between the
corporate and the NGO world is long gone. Some NGOs, known to critics as
“business NGOs” (or BINGOS), deliberately model themselves on, or depend
greatly on, particular corporations.
1.
Bigger ones have commercial arms, media departments and a wide array
of private fund-raising and investment strategies.
2.
A whole class of them, even if not directly backed by businesses, have
taken on corporate trappings. Like corporations they attend conferences
endlessly.
3.
Many NGOs operate as competitors seeking contracts in the aid market,
raising funds with polished media campaigns and lobbying governments as
hard as any other business.
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C.
D.
E.
Fund raising is their primary business - In the now crowded relief market,
campaigning groups must jostle for attention. Increasingly NGOs compete and
spend a lot of their time and money marketing themselves. The larger ones
typically spend 10 % of their funds on marketing and fund raising.
Big international NGOs in the developing world bring in western living standards,
personnel and purchasing power which can transform local markets and generate
great local resentment.
1.
In troubled zones where foreign NGOs flourish, weekends bring a line of
four-wheel drive vehicles to the best restaurants and nightclubs.
2.
Discrepancies between expatriate staff and what are often impoverished
local officials trying to do the same work can cause deep antipathy. Not
only have NGOs diverted funds away from local governments, they are
often seen as directly challenging their sovereignty.
Neutrality and Impartiality of Humanitarian Relief is not possible - NGOs get
involved in situations where their presence may prolong or complicate wars,
where they end up feeding combatants, sheltering hostages or serving as cover for
warring parties. While these may be unintended consequences of aid delivery,
they may complicate the conflict.
VIII. COORDINATION AND COOPERATION MECHANISMS BETWEEN NGOs
AND OTHER PEACE OPERATIONS COMPONENTS
IX.
A.
In the latter day peace operations the Secretary-General has designated a specific
UN agency or activity to act as the coordinating “lead agency” for humanitarian
assistance efforts in the mission. Depending on the situation on the ground and
which UN activity has the most operational experience in the area this has been
UNHCR, UNDP, a representative from OCHA or even in one case, Haiti, the
Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General of UNMIH. The two
major problems encountered have been the failure to establish a coherent and
vigorous structure in the mission area that will facilitate coordination and an
unwillingness of the many agencies, in fact, to fully cooperate in the coordination
process.
B.
At the operational level (mission headquarters) and tactical level (deployed
military units and humanitarian agencies who are executing projects in the field)
Humanitarian Operations Coordination Committees (HOCCs), UN On-Site
Operations Coordination Centers (OSOCC), the military components Civil
Military Operations Centers (CMOCs) and Civil Military Integration Centers
(CIMICs) have done much to improve coordination at the project execution level.
CONCLUSION
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As indicated above, Nongovernmental Organizations bring both their pluses and minuses
to peacekeeping operations and can be both a help and hindrance to the military as it
attempts to accomplish its mission during a peace operation. While dialogue, training,
and just sheer experience of working in various settings and go a long way to smooth out
the difficulties, there are two simple realities. First, while there is much common ground
in any operation, the military and NGOs come at an operation from different perspectives.
Second, regardless of any person’s or sector’s views on the situation, NGOs are now a
permanent part of the landscape and that reality must be accepted and dealt with.
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